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I re read this thread. Sorry, I thought you were the op. I read your post earlier. Ok, I know what the problem is. You clearly posses a belief that every single air bubble needs to be vented from the car for it to work safely. This is simply not true. Consider this....hot water is always going through the cylinder head and probably frequently vapourising into steam all the time where it comes closes to the cylinder head (where temperatures are nearest to combustion levels) and is being pushed right through where it condenses back to very hot water and moves through the rest of the block.

So steam i.e. a gas...is a natural part of the system. My take anyway. My point? I've never used hot coolant to bleed my engine, which means my thermostat probably wasn't open, which means there was some air bubbles stuck in the block, which means that my engine has more air in its coolant passages compared to down's car, yet there has been ZERO problems due to this. Ever.

Just bleed the car according to the bentley manual, but twice. The second time would be at least 1 day after the car was first bled, and then driven for a decent distance (at least 20 minutes at some speed would be ideal), and of course, when the engine is cold. Any stray air bubbles (which are no big deal, if not the engine would have overheated during that one day's driving right?) would have found their way to near the top of the bleed screw in the radiator's column, and would be waiting to be purged.

I was just posting what I had done after the car was already hot so yes the thermostat was open. I had run it up the road a short distance and it would immediately start to overheat. I posted what I had to do to tell the OP what way worked for me. If you wanna read my post it is here. http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...006&highlight=

Just curious. Can we run the car momentarily for a week or so without coolant to check for leaks etc after a radiator flush. This could save coolant wastage due to a probable leak. Will it harm the engine in any way? I mean no more than 50 to 100 miles without coolant.

Well lets see. Water boils at 212 F. A thermostat 92C opens at 198 F , the car can get 210 F easy.I don t think i would risk it. 50/50 Water and 5 year extended life coolant, and a qt Red line water wetter recomended.

LD, I've never had to do this at all. And I've emptied my radiator plenty of times via the screw at its bottom. All I've had to do was to fill it up with water via a hose until water shot out of the bleed screw. Then bleed the car normally i.e. let the engine hit operating temperature then bleed etc etc. At most, I do this a second time around the next morning after driving the car for a fair bit the previous day.

If you put a hose into the expansion tank, and then disconnect the upper radiator hose, and turn on the water, water will start coming out of the upper radiator hose in an endless stream. This shows that water going into the expansion tank eventually fills the radiator, goes to the lower radiator hose, up to the water pump area, through that and out the upper radiator hose. So there's no need to twist the upper radiator hose up and fill water in through that.

Assuming you've drained the radiator and then filled it with water from a garden hose, then dump in one can can of cheap sweet smellin' bright green' coolant, then pour more water into the expansion tank slowly and bleed the radiator, after operating temperature has been reached and with the engine running at idle. When all the bubbles have come out (and you can watch it for ten minutes if you like no big deal at all), then you can screw the bleed screw back, top off water into the expansion tank and replace the rad cap. Over a period of anything from 1-4 weeks, the coolant level will naturally fall from the very top to where it is supposed to be....roughly at the mid way mark when the engine is totally cold.

All i'm trying to point out to you, if you will take a step back and pause, is that you've diagnosed your problem WRONG. Bleeding the radiator is simple enough for a 10 yr old child to do. Those people who heave ho with it, end up fixing the real problem that was present along the way but they fail to realise this.

Re read your outburst. You are too emotional to the point that you don't see the obvious. Thus, you will not fix your car, as you won't spot the problem, and the longer it goes without being fixed, the more irritated you'll get.

If you notice, bentley's ghost also stated (although much more compassionately) that bleeding this radiator is not a big deal. If you've bled the radiator till you're blue, you've bled the radiator enough, period. Don't fall into the trap where you need to get every little bubble out. No such thing and its not a big deal.

Go find the real problem in your car. First, relax. Take a shower. Sit in your car with a cold beer and listen to music for awhile. Be ok with it being busted. Know that this is very temporary. Pat the dashboard and say a few kind words to the baby. Then open the bonnet and look at the engine, while having your second beer. Then start the engine, close your eyes, and breathe in the fresh carbon monoxide and fuel rich exhaust that comes out and say "ahh! ". Smile, and take another look, go over what you've done, and if you've done it correctly, reassure yourself that THAT thing that you did has been sorted, and you need not think about it anymore, and consider other possibilities.

Be zen about it. Just a little. C'mon, give it a try. I've solved too many issues with my car with this same method and I believe everyone here who has been through enough crap with their baby would have created some similar routine for themselves as well. We do this because it works.

And yes, I have WAAAAY more posts then you. And i sincerely hope that you'll have no reason to want to catch up. Have a peaceful day.

Take Roberto's recommendation. Yes, approaching any problem with our 5 series with a Zen mentality is the best way. Trust me, I've done the same when I had to R & R my cylinder head. You really have to study the situation and process it in your head until it comes to you. Simply jumping in and changing parts randomly will only lead to frustration and wasted $$$. That of course and listening to the great help from the forum members.

Well lets see. Water boils at 212 F. A thermostat 92C opens at 198 F , the car can get 210 F easy.I don t think i would risk it. 50/50 Water and 5 year extended life coolant, and a qt Red line water wetter recomended.

LD, you did not factor in the high pressure the water is under, which would raise its boiling point beyond 212F. This is why I had no trouble at all driving without coolant (but with water) for a few weeks, but of course eventually put in the coolant for anti rust and better 'cooling' capabilities.

Absolutely not. Never drive a car without coolant, or at least water. If you want to save money, use water without coolant (i've done this with no problems for weeks), and add coolant later.

However, you want to use coolant, especially if you want to check for leaks. I mean, sweet smelling, cheap, luminous green, non-bmw coolant. If there are leaks, the bright green droplets will make it more obvious....you might miss it otherwise. And its so cheap....just get the stuff off the shelf. Its cost like US$5 or less, compared to nearly $20 for oem coolant. So there is no need to save money either when its so cheap.

Flushing a radiator should not lead to leaks. However, I like the way you're being anal about your time machine mr president. :-) That will keep it that way much much longer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckydog

Well lets see. Water boils at 212 F. A thermostat 92C opens at 198 F , the car can get 210 F easy.I don t think i would risk it. 50/50 Water and 5 year extended life coolant, and a qt Red line water wetter recomended.

@Robert: Nice to have you back for the moral support. And, yes, I meant driving the car with water filled in the radiator but without coolant. Appreciate your prompt response.

@ Luckydog: Thank you all on the forum for clarifying and enlightening me about this doubt.
My baby is slowly and steadily being brought up to good factory running specs.

if you are having that much trouble bleeding the system, may i suggest a compression check. if the head gasket has failed, you will get combustion gasses pushed into the coolant making bleeding impossible. i have a 325 m50 with this condition right now and i know the car was run hot.

Part is suppose to be at my house today. So hopefully i get my baby fixed, inspected, and possibly up for sale Need a bigger car now that we have another baby on the way. No way to fit two adults, two children, and two dogs in my bimmer comfortably. Happy about the baby, but sad about my wife saying i have to sell my bimmer.

That's very good to hear President. What have you done so far? Have you sorted out the transmission ecu problem?

Yes, Roberto, Transmission problem sorted out and is history now.
Everyday, I am doing something small to bring her up. By now she moves like a dream. Have opened, serviced and re assembled complete suspension and brakes too. I will update you on all this in the appropriate thread at leisure. Didnt find you on the forum for a long time hence the gap in connecting.
Thanks for your concern buddy.

Took it to be inspected this morning... and of course it failed the smog test..

HC(PPM) high speed Standard 220, i had 227... low speed standard 220.. with 644...
CO standard was 1.2 and i had 2.16 at high.. and for low 1.2 i had 3. Guess thats what i get for letting my car sit for a year in my garage. Im going to head to autozone or some autoparts store to try and pick up some seafoam.

White smoke does not equal carbon. White smoke is engine oil burning in the combustion chamber due to worn piston rings, or steam due to coolant seepage into the combustion chamber or excess water in the exhaust pipes that got there somehow.

I'm thinking its from the gas sitting in the tank for a year and a half. water and gas separate.. causing steam and an excess amount of carbon. :/ The emission tests show this and the mechanics at the inspection location figured the same since we know the head gasket isn't blown.

If I'm incorrect please advise. Going to run the seafoam through the spark plug inserts, let it clean overnight.. do it again the next day, then add some cleaner to the fuel. take it out on some old country roads and put the pedal to the metal, hopefully cleaning the system out enough to pass inspection.

if you are getting white smoke and still overheating after putting fresh gas in and running the car for a while to warm it up and burn up water from sitting, why are you convinced the head gasket is ok? believe it or not it is a common problem on these and yours sure sounds like it. fwiw.

What you could do is to fill up the tank to the brim with regular gasoline. It will mix with the separated fractions, especially as it rushes in at high pressure, and this would mitigate the problem. Seafoam will do nothing for this situation, and pretty much does nothing for the spark plug wells either.

You don't need to goto country roads if you don't have the time. Just gun the engine at idle to 5k rpm and hold it for 5 minutes. The engine will not overheat. This, of course, if no one else lives near you.

Why did you take the car for an inspection if there was white smoke coming out of your tailpipe?

I do live by other people, but it should be fine. They are used to me working on vehicles.
Took it in just hoping it would pass. Last night it when the smoke started coming out, checked it again this morning but nothing happened so i took it in. It rode pretty decent on the way there. I filled it up to the brim with 93 since 91 wasn't available :/ they only had 85, 89 and 93.